Serabi

Serabi is an Indonesian dessert similar to a pancake but best eaten when it is swimming in its palm sugar coconut milk syrup. I love it for a companion of my afternoon tea. Here's a simple recipe that I have tried (and modified from the original) that is delish and easy to make.

Ingredients:

7 gr rapid rise yeast

50mL warm water (not more than 120F)

1 tsp granulated sugar

100g all purpose flour

100g rice flour

Pinch salt

600mL coconut milk

2 eggs, losely beaten

Pandan flavor

150mL hot water

30g palm sugar

75mL coconut milk

Preparation:

1. Stir warm water and sugar, sprinkle yeast on top it and let it sit for 10 mins.

2. In a medium stainless still bowl, mix flour, salt and yeast mixture, slowly adding the coconut milk. Continue to mix.

3. Strain the flour mixture so no lumps are present. 

4. Add in the eggs and flavoring. Mix thoroughly. 

5. Heat a small pan with a little water and wait until water bubbles (use a sunny side up pan or a serabi pan if you have one), discard water.  

6. On the lowest heat, spoon 1.5 ladle of the serabi mixture and let cook covered and undisturbed for about 5 mins. Uncover the pan, turn the serabi upside down and let cook covered and undisturbed for another 5 mins. Repeat until mix is finished. 

7. Sauce: dissolve palm sugar in water and slowly mix in the coconut milk. Add a  pinch of salt. 

8. Serve serabi with a small ladle of sauce in a small bowl. Warm serabi is the best :)

Nasi Kuning

Nasi Kuning (meaning "yellow rice" in Bahasa Indonesia) is a traditional rice dish cooked with mainly coconut milk and turmeric. It has a fragrant smell due to lemon grass.  This dish, with all its trimmings, (such as fried chicken, spicy eggs, cucumbers, potato cakes) is usually served at a major festivity (birth, wedding, anniversary) and it is made into the shape of a cone, resembling a mountain, called a Tumpeng.  More about that in this blog but now, here's my recipe for the nasi kuning.


Ingredients:
3 cups rice, washed, set aside in a rice cooker
3 shallots
5 garlics
3 tbs water
1 tbs sunflower oil
1 stick lemon grass, break into 2 to release the oils
2 leaves of bay leaf
250 mL coconut cream
250mL water
2 tbs turmeric powder
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste

Preparation:
1. In a blender, chop shallots and garlic with 3 tbs of water until its consistency is soft and homogenous.

2. Heat oil in a pot at medium heat, add the chopped onions and stir fry until fragrant.

3. Add coconut cream and water, stir slowly with a wooden spatula until liquid warms up.

4. Add broken lemon grass, bay leaves, turmeric powder, sugar and salt. Stir and increase the heat.  Cook until it almost comes to a boil.  Do not boil as it will break the consistency of the coconut milk.

5. Add all the liquid and leaves to the rice in the rice cooker.  Press the cook button and cook while stirring occasionally.

Jasmine's Basic Bread

This recipe is really easy and it always comes out nice and soft. The cheese retains the bread's softness and adds a lovely taste too. I use mozzarella but you can use any cheese you wish. You can have it plain for a dinner roll, fill it up with chocolate or extra cheese, or roll it up and make sausage buns. 

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temp

7g rapid rise yeast

4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 egg yolks

1 tsp salt

Method:

1. Warm milk and butter until butter melts up to 50 deg C. Sprinkle yeast on top and let sit for about 5 mins.

2. To the yeast mixture, add flour, half of the cheese, sugar, egg yolks and salt. Mix until all incorporated and becomes a nice dough. Add a bit of milk if dough is too dry. It should nice pull apart. Form into a ball. 

3. Lightly grease a bowl and place dough in it. Cover and let raise until double in size (around 1.5-2 hrs).

4. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface, deflate and knead 2-3 times. Cut into 24 equal pieces (or 12, 16, 18 depending on your preference). At this point you can fill them if you wish. 

5. Place on buttered baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for an hour. 

6. Brush buns with egg yolk wash and place in 190 degC oven until golden brown. 

7. Remove from oven and immediately brush with melted butter.

Egg Tarts

I love egg tarts and there was a restaurant in Singapore that we used to frequent where I can eat 15 of these in one go! <please don't try this at home 😜>.

I was searching for a recipe that was easy to make and voilà! Finally found it. I  modified it to suit my baking capabilities and it works well. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

200g butter, room temp but not soft

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbs sugar

2 tbs cold water

Custard: (prep while pastry dough is in the refrigerator)

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup hot water

3 eggs

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 drops yellow food coloring

Method:

Pastry:

1. Combine flour, butter, salt and sugar by hand, breaking the butter into small pieces within the dry ingredients. Work into a dough but just so that small pieces of butter is still visible.

2. Form the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and place in a refrigerator for 20 mins.

3. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, flatten into a rectangle and evenly roll it out to be  around 50cm in length and around 20cm in width. 

4. Fold dough into thirds like an envelope, turn 1/4, roll again to be 50cm in length and fold into thirds. 

5. Cover folded dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for another 20 mins. 

6. Take the dough out and roll to about 50cm in length. 

7. Cut dough to fit in the aluminium tins and fit them in. 

Custard:

1. Dissolve sugar with hot water. Let stand until room temp.

2. Whisk eggs, milk, vanilla and food color. Add liquid sugar into the egg mix.

3. Using a fine mesh, strain egg-sugar mixture until no lumps and bubbles are present. This can take 5-6 times. 

4. Carefully pour mixture in the pastry tins. Take care to ensure there are no bubbles at all. 

5. Bake at 200C for 25 mins, checking periodically. Egg tarts are done when a toothpick comes out clean and it jiggles when shook. The surface should be a glassy finish.